HMD Global Aim:
Eyeing incursive growth in India, Finnish company HMD Global which sells the iconic Nokia brand of devices. It is working hard towards making its own parts in the country, a top firm executive has emphasized. The company, which has sold seventy million Nokia phones worldwide. It has grown its business nearly 5 times in the past 8 months in India. According to Counterpoint analysis, the company was at the 5th spot in the feature device market with 6 percent share (as of December in last year).
Ajey Mehta is a Vice President and Country Head-India, HMD Global. He told IANS in an interview “We are following the phased making programme. In line with this, we have started having discussions with our partner Foxconn to make our own parts in the country.”
He added “It will happen over a period of time. We may be a little behind, but it will ultimately happen. And the parts that interest import duty will be made here.”
With an aim to boost domestic manufacturing, the government has fixed a ten percent duty on import of key parts such as camera module and printed circuit board assembly. HMD Global said it will also work with Foxconn to set up surface-mount technology (SMT) lines. Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a process for producing electronic circuits in which the parts are mounted or placed directly on to the surface of printed circuit boards.
Company License:
Mehta told IANS “It will take some time, but we will do that for sure.” The company got the license in 2016 to sell Nokia-branded phones for the next ten years and displayed its 1st line-up last year. HMD Global is also mulling about growing its portfolio to enter all price segments in India. To create ripples in the Indian premium phone market. The Finnish company just released its flagship phone Nokia 8 Sirocco, along with two other mid-segment devices. The Nokia 6 and Nokia 7 Plus run on Android One Android operating system (OS). “We put our best foot forward with Nokia 8 Sirocco. It is made out of steel, is 95% glass and is a performance-packed phone in a compact design. We are sure about it,” the top executive noted.
Highlighting the value of feature devices, Mehta said: “The end game is to be a full-range player. Feature devices are also a great opportunity. We will continue to invest in feature devices and refresh some of them over a period of time”. The competitive landscape has changed significantly in the last one year with the rise of brands such as Nokia HMD and itel in the feature device segment.
Last year, the company worked on “building the blocks” in India and, this year, it is looking for collaborations to improve the importance of the brand in the country.
